A New Perspective
by Gwydion
Summary: Sidelined with a cold, all Leo wants to do is watch some Space Heroes to distract himself for a while. But after the past few months, he can't help but see it with different eyes, for better or for worse. (Takes place after the 2012 episode The Wrath of Tiger Claw.)


Disclaimer: I do not own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Takes place after The Wrath of Tiger Claw.

**A New Perspective**

"ACHOO!"

Huddled in the beanbag chair wrapped tightly in warm blankets, Leo's face was the picture of misery. He sniffed loudly in a vain attempt to clear his nose of the mucus that clogged it, but that only managed to make him feel worse. Tiredly looking to his right, he found the box of tissues and, unwrapping his arm, plucked one from it, brought it up to his nostrils, and blew loudly. Once he'd finished, he let out a low groan and tossed it into the waste basket sitting next to him, quickly rewrapping himself back in the blanket.

He had a cold, and he felt absolutely miserable.

The warning signs had started appearing the night before - a tingle in his throat, an increased difficulty breathing through his nose, a lack of energy - but he'd ignored them, refusing to believe he was sick. But as he dragged himself out of bed and down to breakfast that morning, there was no more denying it.

He had wanted to attend their morning practice as usual, but after only a short while Master Splinter had ordered him to sit the rest of the training session out. Handing the sick turtle a box of tissues, he had motioned for him to watch from the sidelines before returning to his remaining students. As Mikey was still resting from the beating he'd taken from Tiger Claw only two nights ago, Raph and Donnie were left to train by themselves, a fact that had the red masked turtle snickering when it came time for sparring.

As he had sat alone, the sounds of the match filling the room, Leo couldn't help but let his mind wander. He was still upset with himself for allowing Karai to be taken back to the Shredder, and this cold of his wasn't helping. The longer he stayed sick, the longer Master Splinter would forbid him from going up to the surface to search for her. He couldn't stand doing nothing, and with his mind in a fog, he wasn't even able to formulate a proper escape plan should she be locked up somewhere against her will. The mere thought of her waiting for his help made him antsy.

As the training session had ended, Leo had been shaken from his brooding thoughts by Donnie who had offered to help him to his feet. As they'd walked into the common room, tissue box grasped firmly in hand, Donnie had ordered him to wait while he marched into his lab. As soon as Leo had settled into the beanbag chair, his younger sibling had returned bearing medicine, orange juice, and some blankets. As he had taken the offered drugs happily, Donnie then proceeded to drag over the waste basket as well as a box of VHS tapes they kept near the TV. Leaving him with strict instructions to rest and drink lots of fluids, his brother had then left him to check on Mikey.

"ACHOO! ACHOO! Ugh..."

Blowing his nose again, Leo hazily looked down into the box of tapes Donnie had left him. He didn't feel like doing much of anything, but he knew the background noise would help him take his mind off of his inability to help Karai. As he slowly began digging through the various movies and TV shows they had collected over the years from junk yards and trash cans, he finally saw one that caught his eye. Pulling it out, he found himself smiling. It was the very first Space Heroes tape he'd ever owned.

The tape only contained two episodes, but the first one had always been his favorite. He knew this was partially due to the pride he felt at owning it, but that didn't make it any less special. So many times he'd watch it only to rewind it and watch it again due to it being the only one he'd had at the time, and he was honestly surprised he hadn't managed to wear it out yet. Sure it had a fuzzy bit at the beginning, but it was still watchable.

As he continued to reminisce, he realized he hadn't seen it in a while and knew that now was the perfect time to remedy that. Dragging himself back to his feet, he shuffled over to the VCR, popped it in, and turned on the TV, thanking his younger self for always making sure to leave whatever tape he watched rewound. By the time he had sat back down, the theme song was just about to play. He sighed and smiled lazily as he took another sip of orange juice, content as he could be in his current state.

The episode started as most did with Captain Ryan and his crew coming across something strange and new. This time it was a planet previously unexplored by the human race, one whose inhabitants would come to haunt the Dauntless for seasons to come. As the episode continued, however, Leo could feel his smile fading. Things he hadn't noticed when he was younger now stood out to him like a sore thumb. Why _was_ Captain Ryan taking a crew down there before they had thoroughly scanned the area? That didn't seem very responsible. And why did he immediately draw his phaser on the aliens inhabiting the planet when they were clearly unarmed and offering them a peaceful greeting?

His mouth now curved into a frown, the sound of someone coming up behind him and plopping onto the bench shook him from his thoughts.

"Oh come on, Space Heroes again? There's gotta be something better on."

The frown on Leo's face deepened, and he turned to glare at Raph as he sniffed loudly.

"You don't have to stay and watch, you know," he grumbled as he reached for another tissue.

"Wait, is this that one where Captain Doofus makes enemies with an entire planet?" said Raph with a snicker, ignoring his older brother's comment.

Leo sighed before falling victim to a harsh coughing fit. He again groaned as he at last settled down, his contentment completely shattered. Snuggling further into his blanket, he did his best to tune out Raph as he continued to make obnoxious comments, but he was having trouble focusing on the episode itself. Finally, between his brother's sarcasm and his own wavering opinion on Captain Ryan's decisions, he got back to his feet and stalked over to the VCR, promptly shutting it off.

"Hey," said Raph indignantly, "What'd you do that for?"

"'There's gotta be something better on', right?" retorted Leo as he turned to look at his brother with a dark scowl.

"Of course there is. There _always_ is." Seeing Raph's annoying smirk made him wish he had the energy to smack it off of his face. "But that episode's not so bad."

There was a pause as Leo's brain slowly processed what he'd just heard. The pressure in his head from the cold must have been effecting his hearing. All he could think to give in response was a mumbled, "What?"

Raph shrugged and folded his arms across his chest. "Look, just because it's 'not bad' doesn't mean I like it, alright? It's still a dumb show. But this one at least has cool aliens."

Blinking slowly, Leo opened his mouth to speak, confusion crinkling his forehead. "But... they're the villains. And not just any villains, they're the ones responsible for killing Doctor Mindstrong in the second movie. Well, he's not actually dead, they find him again in the third movie, but - "

"Oh, who cares?" groaned Raph as he rolled his eyes. He pointed a finger at Leo. "Wouldn't you be upset if some jerk in a fancy spaceship came down to your planet with guns blazing telling you how dumb and backwards you were?"

His eyes widened at his brother's response. To be honest, he'd never really thought about it from that point of view. Growing up, Captain Ryan and the rest of the Dauntless were his heroes; he'd never really thought to question their methods. But as Raph's words rang in tune with his own thoughts from earlier, he began to realize that his brother was right. Those aliens might end up being the greatest foe the crew would ever face, but for this one episode, it was Captain Ryan at fault. He'd started the whole thing with his own brashness and pride, and never once in the series was that addressed.

"Besides," continued Raph with a smirk as he broke into his older brother's troubled thoughts, "they look way more awesome than those stupid crew members."

Leo chuckled. "Now there's a good reason to cheer on the villains," he said sarcastically as he turned back toward the TV. Reaching down, he pressed play on the VCR once more and shuffled back to his seat, plopping down into the beanbag chair as the sound of phaser fire echoed through the common room.

As the episode continued, the sick turtle found his good mood returning as he took Raph's unintentional advice and focused on how "awesome" the aliens were. It was definitely a different experience, but he was happy to find that he was still able to reap enjoyment from his favorite show despite it's more apparent flaws.

"Hey Leo, how're you feeling? Need more orange juice?"

Glancing behind him, Leo saw Donnie approaching from the stairs that lead to their bedrooms, his medical bag in hand.

"No thanks. I'm good," he replied with a cough. "How's Mikey doing?"

"Oh, he'll be fine," said Donnie as he waved off he worried glances being directed at him and headed for his lab. "Luckily his body's recovering pretty well, though it may take him longer to heal if he keeps refusing to just lie down and rest." Shooting his brothers a wry smile, he continued toward his lab. Upon reaching it, he turned back to Leo. "Remember, if you need anything, just call. I'll be right in here, ok?"

"Thanks Donnie." Leo smiled with as much warmth as he could muster as his younger brother entered the next room, leaving his door narrowly cracked open behind him.

Once Leo turned back to the TV, he noticed that the final scene was already playing. As the crew of the Dauntless set a course for their next adventure and the credits began to roll, he heard Raph jump up from the seat behind him.

"Had enough already?"

Looking back at Leo with a grin, the younger turtle stretched. "I figured Mikey could use some incentive to stay still for a while," he said as he marched over to the stairs, waving a hand in the air as he disappeared from sight.

Leo smirked as he turned back to the TV, but as he watched the opening theme, waiting for the second episode to start, he felt a familiar tingling in his nose.

"A... a... ACHOO!"

With a sniff, he reached for a tissue. Clearing his nostrils as much as possible, he threw the used tissue away, picked up his orange juice, and snuggled deeper into the beanbag chair. His mind happily distracted, he sighed and watched as Captain Ryan appeared on screen, waiting to see what new discoveries this episode would hold.

* * *

A/N: Prompt #3 - complete. And that's three for this week. Honestly, I'm amazed I've gotten this far - I'm not very good at sticking to strict schedules when it comes to my hobbies. But moving back to a more light-hearted story, I wanted to focus on Leo in this one as he's the hardest for me to write. It helped that I was sick all day as I was writing it.

As always, critics and grammar police appreciated!


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